Magic Items for the Archer

[ChudoJogurt]

In my current campaign, I have a gish-y bard, a warblade, a gish-y cleric, and a wildshape variant ranger/peerless archer.
The archer is quite behind in terms of magic items, and I want to find good loot for him.

However, I keep running out of ideas -- any item I can find would usually suit either the warrior or the bard better.
Sneaking capability? Bard serves as our rogue.
Defences? Way more important for the frontline fighters like Cleric and Warblade.
Archery enhancement? His DPS is pretty good, better than the party average, and as peerless archer he can create his own trick arrows too.

So, any ideas? Homebrew might work, but I'd prefer to keep it to items from some published materials.

[Mike Miller]

What level?

[ChudoJogurt]

Oh, right, sorry.

Level 8, soon to be 9. I'd like the loot to be within about 10-12k gold price range.

[Mike Miller]

Plenty of good utility maneuvers you can grant with an item from ToB. Any of the short rnge teleports from shadow hand for example.

[Biggus]

There's some stuff in the MiC that could be of use. Millenial Chainmail (p.20) has a max Dex bonus of +8 so is good for archers. It requires a CG, CN or NG alignment though. There's weapon and armour augment crystals, many of which improve versatility rather than raw power, but the Greater ones can only be used on +3 or better items. Enemy Spirit Pouch (p.97) increases all bonuses vs a single favoured enemy by 2. Bracers of Accuracy (p.79) allow you to ignore cover and concealment for up to 3 rounds per day when making ranged attacks. Third Eye Aware (p.140) gives a +10 bonus to Spot checks.

[Efrate]

Specialty arrows. From various materials, spell storing with either archer helping buffs preloaded for your combat hypodermics, or effective spells you might not always have ready for activate on impact, to bane or elemental damage. There are a ton of great arrows that work pretty much only for him.

Have a handbook.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?269705-Toxophilite-The-Archery-Handbook

Dex gloves especially if share slotting with another arm item, and wilding clasps depending on how much wildshaping he does.

[ChudoJogurt]

There's some stuff in the MiC that could be of use. Millenial Chainmail (p.20) has a max Dex bonus of +8 so is good for archers. It requires a CG, CN or NG alignment though. There's weapon and armour augment crystals, many of which improve versatility rather than raw power, but the Greater ones can only be used on +3 or better items....Third Eye Aware (p.140) gives a +10 bonus to Spot checks.
All those will probably better serve our bard, who is a Dex-based gish (soon to have Shadow hand), chaotic and does all the reconnaissance.
And is already above his WBL.



Specialty arrows.
He can make his own as a Peerless Archer.

[zlefin]

If magic items are handed out based on need, then there may be no solution simply because items in general would benefit someone else more. Especially if you don't want up their dps much because they already have it above average.

[Doctor Awkward]

Bow of the Wintermoon, from Magic Item Compendium, pg. 48 is a solid piece of equipment for any archer that is chaotic good, neutral good, or chaotic neutral. For 3,400 gp it's a +1 composite longbow that automatically adjusts the strength bonus damage to it's wielder. So if he has 12 Str normally for +1 damage, and gets bull's strenght cast on him, he then shoots for +3 damage. That alone is worth the cost, completely ignoring the relic powers (which honestly aren't that impressive).


The go-to for the majority of archery equipment needs is the Splitting weapon enhancement from Champions of Ruin, pg. 42.

It's a +3 weapon enhancement that can only go on bows, crossbows, arrows or bolts, and the wielder needs the Precise Shot feat to use it. It causes any arrow (or bolt) fired to split into two identical projectiles in mid flight before they strike the target. You make a separate attack roll for each arrow at the same bonus. Because they are separate attacks, precision damage applies to each one.

Effectively this doubles his damage output each round. I realize you said his damage is already pretty good, but that seems to be his niche in the party.

Another great weapon enhancement is Force, MiC pg. 35. It's a +2 enhancement that turns every attack shot from the weapon into a force attack, allowing it to ignore damage reduction and suffer no miss chance against incorporeal foes.


EDIT: And while he can craft his own magic arrows, there are still certain mundane ones that would be great to find as treasure. in particular, Razorfeather Arrows from the Monster Manual V, which are crafted from the feathers of Steelwings. They are non-magical, but are still considered to be both masterwork and adamantine and have the keen property, which is essentially a free +1 enhancement on top of any magical effects given to it.

[Akkristor]

While it's outside of your price range at the moment, the Quiver of Plenty from Dragon Compendium.

A quiver of plenty provides its owner with a limitless supply of various types of masterwork arrows. Whenever the owner reaches into the quiver of plenty his mental desire causes it to instantly create an arrow of the desired type that remains in existence long enough to fire. The quiver of plenty can create an infinite number of wooden arrows, steel-tipped arrows, silver-tipped arrows, and cold-iron-tipped arrows. It can also create five adamantine-tipped arrows each day. If the quiver's owner drops, hands off, or otherwise lets go of a created arrow in a way that isn't firing it from a bow, the arrow disappears.
All arrows created by a quiver of plenty dissipate into nothingness immediately after they strike a solid object (whether the intended target or not).
Strong conjuration; CL 9th; Craft Wondrous Item,
major creation; Price 18,000 gp; Weight 1 lb. Author:
Richard Farrese. Source: Dragon #328

[ayvango]

There is obvious route: you could give him magic bow or a magic quiver. Since the items are useless for anyone besides bowman, they would pass to the archer.

You could enchant quiver to produce infinite amount of singe round use arrows. This counts as limited form of continuous minor creation. You could either employ custom magic item creation rules, or use Quiver of Plenty (DM #328) or Quiver of Anariel (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Quiver_of_Anariel) as reference. They both seems overpriced to me. About two times actually. And you could enchant said quiver to produce magic arrows. Since it is off-body weapon effect it costs twice the price. So 2000 gp * 2 * slot^2. So simple +2 unlimited arrows would cost 10k (on-demand minor creation) + 16k (off-body weapon enhancement). Too much.

You could enchant bow with splitting arrows (+3) which would cost 32k. You need plenty of wealth to do decent bow damage. Alternatively you could give cheap specific bows. Hanks' Bow (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ask/20061227a) deals 2d6 force damage, adjusts to user's strength and give him power attack-like ability for shooting for 22.6k price. Bow of the Wintermoon relic (3.4k) is cheaper version of strength-adjustable bow.

Not so obvious route is to enhance battle efficiently in other way then dealing damage.

Archer neglects his own protection since he fight in the second line. In that case his best protection is reaction. He should have time to acquire desired position behind his teammates backs. So he should detect foes earlier and react faster. Scout's Headband (3.4k) gives true sight or see invisible spell benefits. Bracers of Accuracy allows to ignore concealment and cover for ranged attacks for 4k price. Revelation weapon crystal outlines hidden enemies. Ring of Anticipations gives initiative re-roll for 6k. Sandals of vagabond gives +2 luck bonus to initiative for 4k. Belt of Battle provide +2 competence bonus for 12k.

Archer could take advantage of fighting from distance. So he need superior mode of moving - flying. If his opponent lacks the same archer could harmlessly attack him. So you could provide archer with flying items: Amber Amulet of Vermin: Giant Wasp (0.8k) summons giant wasp for 1 minute. Give bunch of them so they could be used multiple times. Owlfeather Armor gives 5 rounds of good 40' fly 3 times per day for 8.2k.

The third options is battlefield control. Just make it harder for foes to approach you. Use Rod of Viscid Globs (2k) to entangle targets. Hand of the Oak Father gives you entangle spell some extra goodies for 5k. Alternatively you could summon Huge Monstrous Scorpion from appropriate amber amulet to keep foe busy.

[Doctor Awkward]

Hanks' Bow (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ask/20061227a) deals 2d6 force damage, adjusts to user's strength and give him power attack-like ability for shooting for 22.6k price.

Peerless Archer already gets Power Shot as a class feature. The Force weapon enhancement from the MiC is much cheaper to add to an existing bow for the same effect.

[DEMON]

Have a handbook.


Have another one (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?313990-3-E-Archer-s-equipment), brutally unfinished, I admit, but it does list a whole bunch of archery-related equipment.

[Zaq]

Weird utility items! Doesn’t have to specifically be archery-related if indeed he is already good at archery. Mobility stuff, out-of-combat stuff, stuff that alters the battlefield, stuff that provides magical effects he couldn’t get otherwise, etc.

If nothing else, the rod of ropes in Complete Scoundrel is probably my favorite item in the game. It’s a hookshot. Who doesn’t want a hookshot?

[Eldariel]

Well, utility arrows like Phasing [DR330] or Brilliant Energy are obviously very useful adding to his bag of tricks. They don't affect his DPS but they increase his versatility a lot by enabling him to fire through objects (Phasing for 5', Brilliant Energy through anything but can only hit living enemies). Quiver of Ehlonna or similar is always nice too. Seeking Bow and perhaps Blood-Seeking [Complete Warrior] is pretty cool again adding utility without necessarily adding damage. Bracers of Archery or Bracers of Archery, Greater are always useful.

Of course, Bane Arrows for various types are awesome and a Splitting Bow would skyrocket his DPS. That wasn't the thing you were particularly looking for though. I do think you want to just throw enough stealth stuff for both: Collar of Umbral Metamorphosis [Tome of Magic] is real nice for example. Any reroll items (Luckblades, Amulet of Second Chances or similar) are also great though a tad expensive for this level. Obvious: Dex-boosters are generally the best for archers over anyone else.

[Troacctid]

Is the archer a different alignment from the other party members? If so, you could nudge an item onto him by making it intelligent. Intelligent items will only accept a wielder that shares their alignment. Another option is to give the item a curse that makes it unsuitable for the character most likely to poach it from the ranger—for example, a stealthy item might carry the "Character cannot cast arcane spells" drawback.

If you prefer a lighter touch, consider incorporating a wilding clasp into the item so it works in wild shape.

[Blackhawk748]

Rod of Ropes. Its neat and will let him get into weird places to snipe stuff.

[Biggus]

All those will probably better serve our bard, who is a Dex-based gish (soon to have Shadow hand), chaotic and does all the reconnaissance.
And is already above his WBL.




I realize you said his damage is already pretty good, but that seems to be his niche in the party.


Does the Ranger/ PA have another niche in the party apart from DPS? For example, does he use his Wild Shape much? If so, maybe something that helps that, like a Wilding Clasp (MiC p.190). If not, I've never yet heard a player complain when their DPS increases from "good" to "excellent"...

[Darrin]

Ammunition: there are some arrows in the A&EG that might be worth stockpiling: Arrows of Disintegration (3307 GP), Arrow of Eyes (1047 GP), Fey Arrows (297 GP), Summoning Arrows (257 GP). Message Arrow (400 GP) from the Ghostwalk Web Enhancement could also be useful, as helping hand is is not a divination spell and thus bypasses a lot of "immune to divination" effects (great to use on hidden or invisible creatures).

If you can make sure he has an Elvencraft longbow (+300 GP, Races of the Wild), you can add at least two, possibly three wand chambers to the longbow (one for each end of the quarterstaff, maybe another for the "bow" portion). Then make sure he gets a few ranger-only wands, such as swift haste or hunter's eye. Instant of power (from Forge of War) is also a fantastic 1st-level wand.

He has wild shape, so some treehugger items will likely be useful: Wilding Clasps, Pearl of Speech, Talisman of the Disk, Spare Hand, Druid's Vestment, etc. Hand of the Oak Father (5000 GP, MIC) has a few decent utility spells, and Thorn Pouch (4400 GP, MIC) offers some BFC. Other Ranger-ish stuff: Raptor's Mask (3500 GP, MIC), Helm of the Hunter (9000 GP, MIC), Horizon Goggles (8000 GP, CMage), Survival Pouch (3300 GP, MIC), Scout's Headband (3400 GP, MIC).

You didn't mention if he had an animal companion, or traded it out for an ACF. If he doesn't have one, consider dropping him a Figurine of Wondrous Power. The Blue Quartz Eagle (Races of Faerun, 5400 GP) turns the ranger into a fantastic scout/spotter, since they can share visual information.

[jintoya]

Magic quiver that lets him attach a number of spells to arrows a day

Wild shape item that enables a breath weapon on any animal large or larger.... Breath weapon of grow plants or a breath weapon of smoke, for situational usage

Animated rope that is cursed to attune itself to the first animal shaper it encounters, afterward it can be controlled at a short distance and allowed bonuses to climb

Wild shape compendium that allows for exotic forms to be set, bonus points: Homebrew monsters

A returning arrow/sword that can be shot from a bow and return

Edit:
An animal that was polymorphed into useful gear and still acts like an animal, he will tame it after he figured that out, after a while have its spell broke via mini-quest and give him a bad-ass mount

[darkela5]

Hank energy bow <- this is the best thing ever : +2 magic composite longbow, cheap price 22600 GP , shoots unlimited 2d6 force arrows (varies on your iteratives attacks and feats of course) Force effect so no miss chance vs incorporal and no damage reduction (useless vs force dragons btw) and to top it off the bow lets you power attack.

Hank energy bow: Accept no substitutes :smallcool:

Im sure you think is too good to be true, it must be third party or dragon mag... Well surprisingly no its from WoTC internet supplements.

linky: http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ask/20061227a